CosmicTribune

Xi Jinping emphasizing rule of law to secure Partyâs monopoly on power

Xi Jinping, newly anointed general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), has lost no time laying down what will likely be a leitmotif of his 10-year tenure: promoting âconstitutional Socialism with Chinese characteristics.â

Large numbers of human rights activists, including Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo, have been imprisoned in China on trumped-up charges.

This so-called âBack to the [Chinese] Constitutionâ movement will be kicked off after fellow Politburo Standing Committee member Li Keqiang is appointed premier at the National Peopleâs Congress (NPC), Chinaâs parliamentary body, in early March.

Advisers to both Xi and Li have pointed out that promoting ârule by lawâ is one of the effective ways that the 92-year-old CCP can improve its governance and curb corruption without giving up its near-total monopoly on political power.

Xi, who masterminded a ârespect the lawâ campaign in Zhejiang when he was Party secretary of the coastal province from 2002 to 2007, indicated last month that âensuring the sanctity of the Constitution is [the only way] to safeguard the peopleâs fundamental interests.â